13: Game of Death – Review October 22, 2009

13: Game of Death is a must-see for the uncommon people who have strong stomachs and great appreciation for worldly cinema. The film revolves around a down on his luck guy names Phuchit who has problems with work, money, love, and just life in general. One day after losing his job, he receives a mysterious phonecall telling him that he has been selected for a gameshow and offering him the chance to win 100 million baht if he completes a series of 13 tasks. Our main character begins to be involved in an underground reality game.

The person running the game is pretty much all knowing and seems to be able to control everyone’s actions. All consequences become an afterthought in the quest for that permanently life changing 100 Million. Phuchit must overcome games as basic as those you might see on Fear Factor but also extremely violent ones which are set up to break him down emotionally and physically. However, the plot is weakest when it tries to be elaborate, but as a horror film it doesn’t hit all the right spots.

13: Game of Death was particularly hard to track down on the net with English subtitles. Having English subtitles on the film itself is the main selling point for this disc, and it’s likely the only one available anywhere in the world is on DVD which is your best bet. The effects weren’t great and felt like it was trying too hard to act like Saw or Hostel. If it wasn’t for the great acting performances, it would have took me out of the story.

After loving the first half, the latter half was a disappointment. Half an hour in, I was saying to myself that this is a great premise worthy of a franchise. It’s not overly gory, it’s not that scary, but it is a good tense story. This film Will make you flinch and thats about as good as a reaction I can get out of a film thats marketed as a horror film. The icing on this delicious slice of sadistic cinema is the film’s knockout conclusion: it’s the kind of twist that should leave everyone properly shocked and deeply awed. Horror fans of the site need to track this film and watch it, it comes highly recommended.